Nitrogen use efficiency by country

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is the ratio between nitrogen inputs and output. A NUE of 40% means that only 40% of nitrogen inputs are converted into nitrogen in the form of crops.

Countries reporting

199

Highest

649.0%

Solomon Islands

Lowest

0.1%

Qatar

Median

47.6%

Years covered

1961–2014

Data points

10,031

What the numbers show

Nitrogen use efficiency is currently reported for 199 countries. The highest value is 649.0% in Solomon Islands; the lowest is 0.1% in Qatar.

The median across all reporting countries is 47.6%, and the mean is 58.8%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 6,659.

Over the past decade 120 countries rose and 78 fell. The largest increase was in Singapore (up 561.7%), and the largest decrease in Qatar (down 95.6%).

Nitrogen use efficiency: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Solomon Islands	649.0%	2014	up 87.6%	rising
2	Equatorial Guinea	506.2%	2014	up 302.8%	volatile
3	Malaysia	262.1%	2014	up 52.5%	volatile
4	Sao Tome and Principe	178.6%	2014	up 67.0%	falling
5	Kazakhstan	175.7%	2014	up 29.6%	rising
6	Syria	175.2%	2014	up 167.4%	volatile
7	Benin	171.0%	2014	down 8.7%	rising
8	Tokelau	158.7%	2014	down 30.7%	rising
9	Marshall Islands	158.4%	2013	down 16.4%	rising
10	Papua New Guinea	151.5%	2014	up 51.5%	rising
11	French Guiana	146.7%	2014	up 120.2%	volatile
12	Ghana	136.8%	2014	up 12.7%	rising
13	Cameroon	129.2%	2014	up 74.0%	rising
14	Rwanda	126.8%	2014	up 33.3%	falling
15	Russia	125.2%	2014	up 17.4%	rising
16	Congo	125.0%	2014	up 52.3%	flat
17	Democratic Republic of Congo	122.1%	2014	up 33.9%	falling
18	Ukraine	120.1%	2014	down 12.5%	rising
19	Argentina	118.4%	2014	up 22.2%	flat
20	Romania	107.2%	2014	up 29.8%	rising
21	Togo	106.5%	2014	down 14.3%	falling
22	Dominica	104.4%	2014	up 200.4%	volatile
23	Tanzania	103.6%	2014	up 16.4%	flat
24	Burundi	103.0%	2014	up 6.7%	falling
25	Nigeria	100.1%	2014	down 0.4%	falling
26	Moldova	98.5%	2014	down 37.6%	rising
27	Palestine	98.3%	2014	up 87.7%	rising
28	Uganda	98.0%	2014	up 27.4%	falling
29	Lithuania	96.5%	2014	up 21.4%	rising
30	Burkina Faso	95.9%	2014	up 15.2%	rising
32	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	94.4%	2014	up 21.2%	volatile
33	Guam	93.5%	2014	down 50.3%	rising
34	Hungary	93.0%	2014	up 23.2%	rising
35	Chad	87.6%	2014	up 9.7%	falling
37	Austria	86.0%	2014	up 40.3%	rising
38	Ethiopia	85.3%	2014	up 16.8%	rising
39	Angola	83.7%	2014	up 27.1%	falling
40	Niger	83.7%	2014	up 60.5%	rising
41	Paraguay	82.5%	2014	down 21.3%	rising
42	Iraq	81.4%	2014	up 59.5%	volatile
43	Haiti	80.9%	2014	up 85.7%	flat
44	Indonesia	80.4%	2014	up 42.1%	rising
45	Sierra Leone	78.9%	2014	up 51.2%	falling
46	Denmark	74.3%	2014	up 13.7%	rising
47	France	73.9%	2014	up 14.6%	rising
48	Comoros	72.6%	2014	up 29.8%	flat
49	Guinea	72.1%	2014	down 14.9%	falling
50	United States	71.6%	2014	up 10.1%	rising
51	Serbia	70.3%	2014	up 22.5%	rising
52	Slovakia	70.1%	2014	up 8.6%	flat
53	Bolivia	70.1%	2014	up 12.8%	rising
54	Laos	68.6%	2014	up 63.0%	rising
55	Azerbaijan	67.8%	2014	down 33.1%	rising
57	Niue	66.8%	2013	up 75.5%	falling
58	Tuvalu	66.8%	2013	up 561.3%	volatile
59	United Kingdom	66.7%	2014	up 23.6%	rising
60	Estonia	65.4%	2014	up 9.8%	rising
61	Kyrgyzstan	65.2%	2014	down 27.2%	flat
62	Mozambique	64.4%	2014	down 32.8%	falling
63	Grenada	62.6%	2014	up 8.5%	falling
64	Germany	62.6%	2014	up 0.7%	rising
65	Guinea-Bissau	62.2%	2014	down 6.2%	rising
66	Uruguay	62.2%	2014	up 78.7%	rising
67	American Samoa	62.1%	2014	up 54.9%	rising
68	Australia	62.0%	2014	up 16.6%	rising
69	Kenya	62.0%	2014	up 29.7%	falling
70	Liberia	61.7%	2014	down 0.0%	rising
71	Latvia	61.4%	2014	down 36.6%	falling
72	Madagascar	61.3%	2014	up 11.6%	rising
73	Mali	60.2%	2014	up 59.6%	rising
74	Myanmar	60.1%	2014	up 10.3%	rising
75	Canada	59.5%	2014	down 13.5%	falling
76	Afghanistan	59.5%	2014	up 23.9%	falling
77	South Africa	59.4%	2014	up 39.7%	falling
78	Turkey	59.0%	2014	down 0.4%	falling
79	Kiribati	58.6%	2014	down 47.3%	rising
80	Brazil	57.5%	2014	up 12.2%	falling
81	Bulgaria	57.5%	2014	up 7.5%	rising
82	North Macedonia	57.3%	2014	down 6.4%	falling
83	Finland	57.1%	2014	up 20.5%	rising
84	Honduras	57.0%	2014	up 64.1%	falling
85	Gabon	56.9%	2014	down 8.5%	falling
86	Gambia	56.8%	2014	down 17.5%	rising
87	Czechia	56.0%	2014	down 10.7%	rising
88	Iran	56.0%	2014	up 48.0%	falling
89	Malawi	55.8%	2014	up 2.2%	falling
90	Morocco	55.2%	2014	down 17.3%	falling
91	Tajikistan	54.4%	2014	down 49.1%	falling
92	Sudan	53.3%	2014	up 43.8%	falling
93	Sweden	53.0%	2014	up 17.6%	rising
94	Italy	52.6%	2014	up 6.8%	rising
95	Bhutan	50.5%	2014	down 0.1%	flat
96	Croatia	50.3%	2014	up 30.2%	flat
97	Greece	50.2%	2014	down 30.3%	rising
98	East Timor	48.8%	2014	up 12.5%	rising
99	Zambia	48.6%	2014	up 17.7%	falling
100	Uzbekistan	48.5%	2014	down 26.5%	falling
101	Eritrea	48.3%	2014	up 49.5%	rising
102	Cambodia	48.1%	2014	up 41.5%	rising
103	Tunisia	47.6%	2014	down 9.8%	falling
104	Armenia	46.6%	2014	down 28.4%	falling
105	Mexico	45.7%	2014	down 3.9%	falling
106	Vanuatu	45.6%	2014	up 43.5%	falling
107	Poland	45.3%	2014	down 14.6%	rising
108	French Polynesia	44.8%	2014	up 55.4%	volatile
109	Guatemala	44.5%	2014	up 78.5%	falling
110	Nauru	44.3%	2014	down 23.8%	falling
111	Nepal	43.6%	2014	down 21.6%	rising
112	Lesotho	43.5%	2014	down 5.3%	falling
113	Belarus	43.4%	2014	down 2.3%	falling
114	Senegal	41.9%	2014	down 9.0%	falling
115	North Korea	41.8%	2014	up 8.9%	rising
116	Central African Republic	41.1%	2014	up 4.5%	falling
117	Ecuador	39.9%	2014	up 27.4%	falling
118	Guyana	39.6%	2014	up 87.9%	rising
119	Philippines	39.4%	2014	up 27.5%	rising
120	Zimbabwe	38.3%	2014	down 42.8%	falling
121	Thailand	38.2%	2014	up 27.9%	falling
122	Egypt	37.3%	2014	up 0.1%	falling
123	Tonga	37.2%	2014	up 130.2%	volatile
124	Netherlands	37.1%	2014	down 1.3%	rising
125	Switzerland	36.7%	2014	up 0.6%	falling
126	Spain	36.4%	2014	down 9.6%	falling
127	Chile	36.1%	2014	up 3.1%	falling
128	Belgium	36.0%	2014	up 16.4%	rising
129	India	34.3%	2014	up 14.0%	falling
130	Nicaragua	34.1%	2014	down 4.7%	falling
131	Vietnam	33.0%	2014	up 47.0%	falling
132	Albania	32.8%	2014	down 15.0%	falling
133	Samoa	32.3%	2014	up 0.3%	falling
134	Oman	32.0%	2014	up 0.8%	falling
135	China	32.0%	2014	up 11.8%	falling
136	Peru	31.5%	2014	down 1.6%	falling
137	El Salvador	30.8%	2014	up 3.8%	falling
138	Algeria	30.1%	2014	down 48.3%	falling
139	Belize	30.0%	2014	down 31.6%	falling
140	Slovenia	30.0%	2014	up 7.6%	rising
141	Israel	29.0%	2014	up 13.1%	falling
142	Cape Verde	28.6%	2014	up 7.8%	volatile
143	Bangladesh	28.0%	2014	up 15.7%	falling
144	Japan	27.9%	2014	up 34.6%	falling
145	Yemen	27.8%	2014	down 23.7%	volatile
146	Libya	27.1%	2014	up 56.1%	falling
147	Pakistan	26.7%	2014	down 7.9%	falling
148	Bermuda	26.2%	2014	up 14.6%	volatile
149	Colombia	25.9%	2014	down 14.3%	falling
150	Jamaica	25.5%	2014	up 67.3%	falling
151	South Korea	25.2%	2014	up 13.2%	falling
152	Costa Rica	24.3%	2014	down 8.1%	rising
153	Turkmenistan	24.2%	2014	down 69.7%	volatile
154	Lebanon	24.1%	2014	down 2.4%	falling
155	Saint Kitts and Nevis	23.9%	2014	down 42.2%	volatile
156	Suriname	22.3%	2014	up 23.0%	falling
157	Namibia	22.0%	2014	up 13.4%	rising
158	Cuba	21.6%	2014	down 45.9%	volatile
159	Panama	21.0%	2014	up 0.5%	falling
160	Norway	20.4%	2014	down 13.1%	rising
161	Dominican Republic	20.2%	2014	up 28.7%	falling
162	Sri Lanka	20.1%	2014	up 2.8%	falling
163	Bosnia and Herzegovina	19.2%	2014	down 63.2%	falling
164	Portugal	19.2%	2014	down 47.9%	rising
166	Venezuela	18.1%	2014	up 3.6%	falling
167	Mauritania	17.4%	2014	up 60.9%	rising
168	Bahamas	17.3%	2014	up 54.6%	falling
169	Seychelles	16.7%	2014	up 56.8%	volatile
170	Maldives	16.6%	2014	down 91.2%	falling
171	Fiji	15.8%	2014	up 45.1%	falling
172	Jordan	15.2%	2014	down 7.6%	volatile
173	Antigua and Barbuda	14.1%	2014	up 8.0%	volatile
174	Georgia	14.0%	2014	down 70.7%	falling
176	United States Virgin Islands	12.4%	1965	—	rising
177	Montenegro	12.4%	2014	down 32.3%	falling
178	Kuwait	11.6%	2014	up 218.5%	volatile
179	Mauritius	11.2%	2014	down 10.9%	falling
180	Somalia	10.6%	2014	down 24.0%	rising
181	Faroe Islands	10.6%	2014	down 24.9%	rising
182	Montserrat	10.3%	2014	up 15.4%	volatile
183	Saint Lucia	10.0%	2014	down 70.4%	volatile
184	Cyprus	9.3%	2014	down 63.1%	falling
185	Bahrain	8.8%	2014	down 45.0%	volatile
186	Puerto Rico	7.5%	2014	up 2.3%	volatile
187	Barbados	7.4%	2014	up 66.6%	falling
188	Cook Islands	7.0%	2014	down 44.3%	volatile
189	Djibouti	7.0%	2014	down 11.6%	volatile
190	New Caledonia	7.0%	2014	down 3.4%	falling
191	Mongolia	6.7%	2014	up 63.1%	falling
192	United Arab Emirates	6.4%	2014	down 42.2%	volatile
193	Cayman Islands	6.3%	2014	up 4.4%	falling
194	Saudi Arabia	5.4%	2014	down 79.6%	volatile
195	New Zealand	5.2%	2014	down 47.7%	falling
196	Western Sahara	5.2%	2014	down 16.8%	rising
197	Botswana	4.5%	2014	down 69.0%	falling
198	Singapore	2.2%	2014	up 561.7%	volatile
199	Trinidad and Tobago	2.1%	2014	down 37.7%	volatile
200	British Virgin Islands	1.8%	2014	up 4.8%	rising
201	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	0.9%	2014	up 2.6%	volatile
202	Brunei	0.8%	2014	down 12.9%	volatile
203	Iceland	0.2%	2014	down 29.4%	rising
204	Qatar	0.1%	2014	down 95.6%	volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

USSR 45.4%

About this data

Indicator: Nitrogen use efficiency
Unit: %
Source: Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 205 places, 10,031 data points, 1961–2014
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is the ratio between nitrogen inputs and output. A NUE of 40% means that only 40% of nitrogen inputs are converted into nitrogen in the form of crops.